Crystal Clear Memories
by crimsonnette
Summary: AxP. When Piper loses her beloved crystal necklace, Aerrow is determined to find it-along with the courage to confess his love...


I'd like to say big thanks to Lady Ava, who inspired this story

**I'd like to say big thanks to Lady Ava, who inspired this story! The flashback scene is hers, a little rewritten by me, from her story "The Master Of Puppets" (Which, btw, is an amazing story you should check out.) This story is for you!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks or the Flashback scene in this story.**

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"FINN, this isn't funny! Where did you put it?"

"Put what, Piper? Geez, it's a little early to be playing "Blame the Finn", don't you think?"

"This is serious! I need it, if you're just messing with me, cut it out!"

"Shh, you guys, you might wake Aerrow up…"

Too late. Hearing all the commotion and realizing I'd slept in later than normal, I swung my legs out of bed and stood up. Waking up to one of Piper and Finn's arguments was one thing, but knowing it was up to you to stop it was another. Yawning and trying to shake the sleepiness away, I pulled on my normal attire with my boots. Leaving my armor where it was until after I ate breakfast, I sauntered out into the hall.

I was glad the crew let me sleep in for once. Like I said before, I'm usually the first one up (aside from Stork who, of course, thinks mind worms like to feed on resting bodies. I will never understand that guy.) But last night had been exhausting for everyone, especially me. Dark Ace and his "crew" attacked up in the dead of night and, not only had he been upgraded with the newest blades, but the Dark Ace had also learned a few new moves. Nobody was too badly hurt, but I was a little bruised and my muscles were sore from jumping around so much.

That and in addition I stayed up most of the night thinking about Piper. Its tough knowing you can never be with the one you love.

Anyway, I came onto the bridge joining the rest of my squadron, where I found Piper in hysterics and Finn on the defense. After a quick "good morning", Piper went back to searching for her lost item, and Finn continued on yelling he didn't know what happened to her stupid necklace.

"This isn't good! Oh god, I need to find it! That's like my most prized possession, where could it have gone??"

"Okay, Piper," I said, making my way over to her, "Take a deep breath." As I gently grabbed her shoulders to help calm her down, she did as I said.

"Alright, now tell me what happened and we'll all do our best to help you, okay?"

Piper nodded and looked up at me, her eyes seeming to get lined with tears. I took this as a sign that whatever she lost was very important; Piper almost never cried.

"Last night after you went to bed, Junko and I were in the hangar fixing my heliscooter and Finn's skimmer…there was grease everywhere…I didn't want to get my crystal necklace dirty, so I took it off and put it here on the kitchen table….last night I was so tired when we were done I forgot about it and went to bed…I'm so used to having it on I guess I didn't realize until this morning. I came in here and saw Finn eating breakfast at the table and now my necklace is gone and I don't know what I'm going to do!"

Piper looked down, the tears really threatening now.

"I don't see the big deal…I mean it's just a necklace…" Finn started.

With fire in her eyes, Piper turned and glared at Finn. "It's not just about the necklace, Finn. It was a gift, and it was the first crystal I actually got to keep. I love it…" she said in a soft voice.

My eyes widened, surprised that Piper even remembered that. It was in fact me who had given her the necklace, back when we were little. I guess we were five or so. Everyone got so used to seeing Piper with it on, I stopped remembering that I had given it to her. Realizing how much it meant to her made me smile.

"Don't worry, Piper. We're going to find it." Looking up at me with a weak smile, she calmed down. "Okay everyone, we're going to search until we find it!"

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After a few hours of searching with no luck, Piper sadly told us to call off the search.

"I really appreciate your efforts, guys. Thanks for trying, but it's no use. Besides, it's just a stupid necklace anyways". Piper did her best to sound upbeat, but I could tell how dejected she was.

Piper walked out on the hangar, which was currently open as Finn and Junko decided to go out for a ride after being cooped up all day. After twenty minutes of searching on my own, I joined her.

Letting my legs hang over the edge so I could sit close to her, I said "I'm really sorry about your necklace, Piper…"

She smiled up at me. "It's fine….I mean I know it was just a stupid crystal…but it meant a lot to me…"

"Do you remember were you got it?" I asked with a smile.

"Of course! Don't you? It was the best present you ever gave to me, how could I forget?"

"I remember it perfectly…gosh that was along time ago…" my voice trailed off as we began to reminisce together…

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_I was five, and Piper was four and a half. I could tell she was growing bored; we had snuck out by an old oak tree in the forest, although the elders had told us not to, and I was playing with a much younger Radarr. After a few minutes of silence, she stood up and sighed._

"_Aerrow…I'm bored…I wanna go do something!" She whined, as exasperated four year olds do._

"_Well…what do you want to do, Pi?" I asked, using our little nicknames._

"_I heard the elders say there were some crystals down near the lake", she said, orange eyes glowing. "I wanted to go get some. Finn always breaks them before I can bring them home, but I think you would make a much better partner!" she said excitedly._

_I grinned. "C'mon, Pi! We have to hurry and finish this mission!" I said, taking her hand._

"_Mission?" She asked, confused._

"_To get the crystals before the evil Cyclonians do!" She smiled back at me, understanding, and together we ran, hand in hand, until we were out of breath from running and laughing._

_We reached the lake and to Piper's dismay found no crystals. But that didn't matter to us; we had "beat the Cyclonians" and succeeded in our mission. When Radarr scampered off to eat some berries, I dropped Piper's hand._

"_Oh, I almost forgot! I have a present for you!" I said quickly as I reached into my pocket. Piper's eyes widened and I continued. "This is for always being to nice to me and being my friend."_

_Pulling the object out of my hands, I held it in front of Piper's face. On a piece of leather rope was a crystal, lightly glowing blue in the center and white surrounding it._

"_Aerrow, it's beautiful!" Piper said, reaching out for it._

"_Not as beautiful as you!" I replied softly, my cheeks starting to match my hair. "I saw it a few days ago, and it made me think of you…I know you like crystals and stuff…" She turned around and I helped her fasten it around her neck._

"_Oh Aerrow, I love it! You're my best friend!" She said, turning and giving me a hug. "You're my best friend too, Piper."_

_Standing on her tippy toes, she kissed me on the cheek. She giggled, grabbed my hand, and together we ran back home._

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There we sat, almost ten years later, blushing furiously but laughing just the same about the memory.

"Wow…that was a great day…and our first mission as a team!" Piper said, turning to look at me.

"Wow. You're right…I guess it was the first mission!" I replied.

_It's also the day I fell in love with you…_I thought, not realizing Piper was thinking the same thing.

After a few moments of thinking to ourselves, Piper said "I'm really gonna miss that thing…but mostly because of who gave it to me…" she added shyly.

I smiled at her mischievously before saying "Well you're really going to be happy now, then" I said, pulling out the necklace from my pocket, much like I had done ten years before.

Once again, Piper's eyes grew huge. "You found it! Where was it?"

"It somehow fell into the vent…After Junko and Finn left I looked around some more and found it."

"Aerrow…thank you so much! You could never know how much this means to me…"

Copying herself from ten years ago, she leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.

"Thank you, Aerrow" she said quietly.

There was something in her eyes that melted my heart…something only Piper could give as she smiled at me. Such a warm happiness and…love was there, and made me speak without thinking.

"Piper, ten years ago, when I first gave you that necklace, I realized something. I know I should have told you sooner….Piper, I love you."

Piper's eyes grew _wider_, and she looked shocked. The sinking feeling in my stomach grew worse, as I realized she didn't feel the same way.

Speaking quickly, I said "I'm sorry, forget I said anything…I always knew you could never feel the same way and I know that I may have just screwed up our friendship and possibly affected the whole squadron so please forgive me and forget what I sai--"

I was cut off by Piper softly placing her lips on mine. This time, it was me who was surprised.

She pulled back after a short amount of time, and said "If you would just shut up for one second you would have heard me say I love you too!"

By now we were both a soft shade of pink as my eyes matched her beautiful orange ones. With both of us smiling, we leaned in to share our second—but not final—kiss. This time, ten years of untold love was poured into that kiss, ten years of waiting finally being worth it when…

"Dude, get a room! I'm trying not to barf over here!" Finn said, landing his skimmer. Me and Piper just laughed, still flushed, as me made our way, hand in hand once again, back home.

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**I hope you liked this! Sorry its nt written well, I really am in a rush! Oh well, please remember to review. Once again, thanks so much to Lady Ava! **

**BTW I am currently writing a story for my friend, so if anyone wants a story (any pairing) let me know and I would be happy to write for you!**

**!kurtle**


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